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Published by Dan Antion

Husband, father, woodworker, cyclist, photographer, geek - oh wait, I’m writing this like I only have 140 characters. I am all those things, and more, and all of these passions present me with opportunities to observe, and think about things that I can’t write about in other places. I have started this blog to catch the stuff that falls out, overflows and just plain doesn’t fit the other containers in my life.
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New England or Florida in the winter? Now there’s a topic everyone has an opinion about. I must say those beach shots look inviting especially this wicked cold weekend. Maybe I need a beer so we could discuss it further. :-)

You, my good friend, are insane. Freezing temps over sunny, breezy beaches? I admit I love the mountains as well but a chilly 45 is all I intend to praise. I know a place you would love. Savegre, Costa Rica. Breezy, dry daytime temps of 70-ish and nighttime 30-40. EVERY day. All the rainbow trout you could eat, horseback riding, hiking, waterfalls, birding (I photographed the QUETZAL there) but with wifi and a great big tv in the lobby of the bar next to the main building. We watched LSU lose the championship there that year. (Grrrr……) note: that was a grrrr…..not a brrrrr…..I loathe shivering, wearing layers of clothes and having to be on and off with all of them all the time. I agree about AC in warm climates but I just take along a light jacket when I go to the movies or the mall. Now, if you want to talk miserable hot, I grew up in South Louisiana….can you say respirator? You guys always crack me up. I love this job! 😀

Thanks Cheryl. I might have to give you a bigger tip. I’ve been to New Orleans in the summer and I don’t know how people live there. The place you describe in Costa Rica sounds idyllic but I really do enjoy the four seasons. Then again, I was just outside using freezing wrenches to fix my snow blower. That, I could live without :)

Oh MJ – do you have any idea how many times I’ve been tempted to do exactly that!!
We came close to booking flights back in November for some cycling time in Florida in February or March.
…. then our tanking dollar went completely belly-up :(

Dan, you get 2 million bonus points for mentioning Green Bay, regardless of the outcome of that game.

As the high today will be sub zero, with even colder wind chill, I would prefer to be sitting in a Florida bar, just off the beach, so I can carry my plastic cup of a craft beer through the 65 degree sand.

Hmmm..I get ya. I will say that after living in the retirement “mecca” for a few years now and spending time with so many “snowbirds”, as well as watching my own evolution of tolerance, I can confidently say,”Give it a few more years and tou might think a little differently about things”. And, on a brighter note, we actaully do have four seasons here, although our Autumn starts around November 15 and ends first of February! 😛

so, winter is Feb 1st until the 14th? Tolerances do change, but I don’t see us moving south. I think the snowbirds and the tourist might drive me crazy faster than the weather. Just walking through the Ft Lauderdale airport was making me a little nuts.

Aw, I’m sorry you had to go to Florida. I was about to write, But aren’t the beaches nice? before I remembered you don’t live in a landlocked state…
We have some terns here. I forget what kinda terns, but they look like seagulls and it freaks me out because I don’t remember seeing any seagulls here before we got back. I should really write about that sometime.
Welcome home :)

Thanks. I get your opening comment a lot. I was also in Ft Lauderdale in December, but in the city, with no access to the beach. Two days, in a freezing cold hotel, I might as well have been in Cleveland. Well, not Cleveland, but, you know. I actually like going to our beaches in the winter. I grew up landlocked, but I’ve been been in a coastal state sine I was in my 20s.. I can’t say that I notice a difference but my daughter says she feels funny being inland. Then again, I’m not much of a beach person either.

Home is def where your heart is. I have to say the Florida landscape is very diverse, socially speaking. The closer to Orlando and South Florida you get, the more typically touristy things are. But here it is more escapist mentality. A kind of uninhibited hippie zen but also a broad spectrum of soceoeconomic options. No teal agenda which is my favorite one! 😃

I love four seasons too but I do love heat! We are off to FL this week to visit family and I am eager for a little sun and beach. I agree with you though, they are crazy with AC there, I don’t understand why they keep it so cold inside.

Oh, I forgot to mention that it is -24 in Montreal today, with the wind chill factor it is down to -39 and we are talking Celsius here. I’ll let you do the conversion but believe me I would like it a little warmer even though I love 4 seasons.

I hope you know that the dog running in the snow contrasted in a beautiful way with the sandy beach with terns on it. I also like seagulls and am going to pay better attention to which is which now, Dan. I bet you were happy to be back home again with this Valentine’s Day weekend going on. I hear that this coming Thursday will be back in the 40’s while last night it snowed and was below normal temps. This morning it was only 17 degrees. I would be happy to be by a beach in a warmer climate, reading a book with my feet digging into sand. Very therapeutic compared to my current lifestyle! Smiles!

Thanks Robin. I am glad to be home. I hate being away when it snows here because I’m supposed to take care of that. I feel bad when I’m not here to do it. The forecast up until Friday was calling for clear skies and temps in 30s. I love the birds that hang around on the beach.

I love this conversational post. You have a great sense of humor. I have a weird question just popped up. Which is the most expensive city in the U.S. as per your experience? In terms of sightseeing, restaurants, public transport. Or let me put it this way. Of all the cities you visited which one was the most expensive.

Yeah I understand mega cities are expensive like Mumbai is in India. So my question is how much salary is enough for decent living in your city? Of course the more the better, but what’s the low point. To pay bills, put food on the table and decent clothes. Just curious.

I have to give that some though. Minimum wage here is about $10 an hour. “Living wage” is closer to $13/hour. Or about $26,000 a year. But decent apartments are $800-1,200 a month. We don’t have much mass transit, so if you work outside the city (or work there and live elsewhere) you need a car. Insurance, taxes, etc. all add up fast. I’m not sure how far that living wage would go.

I know its hard to calculate all things. I was just checking between the life cost there and here. No wonder Indians prefer US because they make thrice the income they make here. In India, there’s no concept of ‘Minimum Wage’ so employers have full liberty to exploit and manipulate the market. This is why many international brands outsource to India because Indians work at 1/3 of the hourly wages even on Saturday/Sunday. Many work for 12 hours and then take public transport. The mass transit thing in India is more popular in Mumbai than anywhere else. Most cities in India use private vehicles and cabs to commute. Mumbai has the luxury of these local trains that no other city in India can match. The reason I asked you this question is because many American clients are willing to offer $50 per article to Americans, but not more than $5 to Indians, so I was like may be the answer lies in the lifestyle pattern. Well, thanks for the information.

Yeah as much as I love the kids and grandbabies I could never willfully live further North than Arkansas or Georgia. I love Lincoln but even in May it is dreary and cold to me. Of course I love being among trees so tall they block the sky. One friend I had from Illinois once visited Houston (another residence in my repertoire with hubby) and he actually panicked from claustrophobia due to the high rise buildings, tall trees and extreme humidity. It’s really all relative.

I’m ok with big cities but I wouldn’t want to be in one every day. I love New York and I enjoy visiting Boston but the daily traffic is just a mess. The nice thing about CT is I can get a train 2 miles from my house and be in NYC in 3 hours

Nice dialogue and photos. I think the cruise ship was coming in for a landing. I do not like humidity and a lot of air conditioning either. But we have to air conditioning in the summer and in the desert. Don’t like it on at night though. :)

I’m not a fan of Florida or football. Florida is too humid and there’s too many creatures that live there that I’d rather avoid. Football is just young men bashing each other around and getting themselves so injured that they end up on SSDI.

interesting post, as usually… btw, I loved New England in June, Florida in April-May, even though as humid as Houston, TX where we lived for 5 years… :)
* * *
have a great week & positive vibes… cheers! :)

I think I would adore an escape to FL during the coldest time of winter for the warmth, and the variety of birds they have down there.
Speaking of birds- I don’t think those are Least Terns. I think they’re Royal Terns. The Least Terns have a black patch that goes all the way to their eyes, and in winter their bills are black.

I’m waiting for the Terns to return. We don’t have Royal Terns, but we do get Elegant Terns which look similar to Royal Terns. Nice take off shot!

Thanks. I think if I was going with family to Florida for a get-away, I might like it. Goind for business, leaving my wife to deal with the snow and spending most of my time in meetings is a different story. It’s a good time, but it’s not a vacation.

I didn’t realize there were so many kinds of Terns. At least I’m closer than I have been in the past when I described them as “some kind of bird” :)

You know I thought maybe it was a different tern but didn’t really look it up before I replied. I knew it was a tern. We mostly have these but I have seen the others at least once. So many birds….so little time to photograph them!

I never really thought about Florida being over air conditioned – but I think it is right- I have lived in Florida a few times and always was a pleasure leaving- ha! But I could maybe do it again if we had to – it is not a took choice – but is on the list – if that makes sense. Anyhow – in 92 I dated a guy (briefly) who was in FL for Umpire school – just mentioned that cos you mentioned baseball at the end.
The variety of pictures at the end was fun to scroll and fit the chatter perfectly – the dog action shot is my fav- then the lights of Hartford – felt all Van Gogh –

I agree – and Dan – I actually think it is called baseball city- and side note – I dated another baseball player down in Florida – I worked in restaurants and so I had the chance to meet so many people and because Florida is so touristy- well it was really fun- and the guy I dated was from France! Big baseball stud and looked him up in ’08 (just for fun and with the hubs – we were just checking on old friends) anyhow – he was now a Canadian – and I do recall he did not like his home country –
Anyhow – one more thing –

Your posts are so fun sometimes when you throw in random tidbits! Things we would miss at a real bar (maybe!- depending on the beer and how much food there was) but when you said y’all cannot all fly together I remember all the tjmaxx employees that were lost during 911! I used to shop there a lot when my kids were little (getting the max for the minimum/ ha) and for months when you walk in they had the counters covered with the names of the execs that were killed – all on the same plane!!

I had forgotten about that. I was one of the last to make my arrangements this trip, and the email had come around suggesting that we should look for different flights. Of course, the way the airlines run these days, that isn’t always easy. It’s interesting to hear about a baseball player from France. I wouldn’t have expected that. Thanks!